Mental problems of soldiers' kids tied to wars

More actual costs of war:

Monday, July 4, 2011 Reuters Health Information


By Alina Selyukh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The longer U.S. soldiers were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan, the more likely their children would be diagnosed with mental health problems, according to a study published Monday.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, analyzed medical records of 307,520 children of active-duty Army personnel, aged 5 to 17 years old. It found almost 17 percent of them exhibited mental health problems.

"Children of parents who spent more time deployed between 2003 and 2006 fared worse than children whose parents were deployed for a shorter duration," the study's researchers wrote.

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Boys were more likely to have mental health problems than girls, according to the report, which reviewed records for patients cared for at military medical facilities and at civilian facilities using military medical insurance.

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_113931.html

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